Interventions & Lullabies
by war on joypiter
Summary: Haley and Jake discuss what happened in Tree Hill while he was gone. HJ friendship, implied HN and JP. Finished. R&R!


Second attempt at a _One Tree Hill_ story - takes place sometime after "The Heart Brings You Back" so if you haven't seen the episode, prepare to be spoiled. Obviously this would occur after Jake and Peyton return to town with Jenny. Based mildly on spoilers for the next new episode, but nothing that will kill you. Please read and review. Constructive criticism is loved and welcomed. It's a one part story. The title comes from an album by The Format – highly recommended.

**interventions + lullabies**

As the last two customers left the café, Haley James-Scott let out the exhausted sigh she had been keeping in while waiting on them. It was amazing how much coffee two individuals could consume, especially when it was getting so late. She'd made a promise to Karen, though, that she would be the one to close up so her motherly figure could go out on her date. Everyone was so happy for Karen. She was taking a leap into the dating world with no regrets, something Haley herself had done not long before. Of course, Haley's leap had turned into a much larger jump than anyone had expected, leaving her married and, while she had said "no regrets" to her husband-to-be as they drove off, it was obvious some had formed.

"I don't think I've ever seen two people drink more coffee than those people." The voice didn't belong to the newest Scott woman, but instead the returning Jagielski father. Haley wasn't alone at the café that night; Jake had offered to help close since Karen had been so welcoming about the idea of getting his job back. Everyone was excited to have not only Jake, but baby Jenny, back in their lives. Tree Hill wasn't the same without them. When someone left the small North Carolina town, a hole was always created. For Haley, too many holes had tried and tried to form in the past months. Keith and Lucas, though their hole was filled not long after, her parents, and her…friend. He was just a friend.

The words finally registered in Haley's mind, which had been wandering more and more as the Saturday lengthened. By now she was waiting for her mind to leave her completely, maybe find a greyhound bus to jump on to escape the town ASAP. She shook her head quickly, and with that, out shook any other thoughts of buses and boys. Coffee could stay though. "Yeah," she muttered, turning around to face the boy, whose eyebrows raised in confusion. She had taken far too long to answer him, and they both knew that something was up. "Yeah, that's…damn. They were like inhaling the stuff. I was about to just offer them up an I.V., you know…pump it right into their bloodstream and send 'em packing."

Jake Jagielski had that classic laugh. It was soft, breathy, and could make any girl melt. Haley didn't melt at it, though. Married girls don't melt at basketball-playing fathers – just bad ass musicians with attitude problems. "What's up, Hales?" Jake removed the dishtowel he had swung over his broad shoulders, hitting the smaller girl lightly in the hip with it. "You seem a bit out of it. Is everything all right?"

She nodded quickly, mumbling a soft, "Yeah." Clearing her throat, she attempted to throw a bit more confidence in her answer. It was hard to be convincing when your voice wouldn't allow you to lie. "I'm just tired. It's been a long day. I'm ready to go home and sleep." Jake was moving closer to her, so Haley did the first thing that came to mind. In a quick motion she moved to leave behind the counter, walking over towards the door to lock it and turn the 'open' sign to 'closed'. She wasn't going to be cornered by someone who could see through her mask.

"Do you want to go home? We can close up without you. You can go home…be with your husband." It hadn't taken Jake long to learn of the things he'd missed in his absence. The marriage of the basketball player and his tutor had been the largest shock of them all, and his first thought, like everyone else's, was that the tutor wife was carrying a basketball of her own. It had been about love though, as everyone had explained to him, though he couldn't shake the mental image of his co-worker loving someone else.

Haley's eyebrows rose, and it was only then that she realize they were not alone. Jenny was with them, sleeping happily in the crib that had returned to the back of the café once more with his return. "No, no," she insisted quickly, walking back over to the counter as her hands untied the green apron around her waist. "No, that's all right. I mean, if anyone should be leaving it's you. You can get Jenny home, go hang out with Peyton…I can do this."

Jake was just as quick to decline as she had been. "Peyton's got something else going on, and Jenny's asleep, so I might as well hang around, let her catch a few more Zs before attempting to get her back home without making her grumpy." At that Haley's heart warmed. She'd never known anyone like him before, someone so completely dedicated to the person he loved. With that thought, her heavy heart sunk once more, and with it escaped an equally weighty sigh. "Hales," he repeated, his eyes focused on her as he hoped she'd meet his eye contact, "What's wrong?" Before she could protest, tossing him another lie about simply being tired, he added onto his concerned words. "Does this have anything to do with…?"

"With who?" she asked quickly, eyes growing slightly wide as he allowed his question to trail off. It was only then that she realized she'd given it away. He had never implied that her thoughts were towards a person, and "with what?" would have been a more appropriate answer, had she thought of it sooner.

Jake picked up on this, too, and placed his dishtowel on the counter as he took a seat on one of the stools. He patted the one next to him, and Haley did as told, her hands tapping nervously against the counter's top as she shifted in her seat.

"When I first came into town," he began slowly, deciding to come clean to her, "I saw you. At the bus station. With…that guy. Some guy. I don't know who he is."

Haley had attempted to get that entire night blocked from her memory, but the fact that someone else knew of it, other than herself and 'that guy', only made her see how real it was. "Chris," she whispered, her elbows hitting the counter with a thud as she dropped her head to rest in her palms. With a loud groan she closed her eyes, squeezing the thoughts from her mind the best she could.

"Look, Haley, I don't mean to pry, but something was obviously going on. Do you want to talk about it?" He placed a comforting hand on her shoulder, giving it a gentle squeeze. He hated to see someone he had known to be such a good person be so upset, and while half of him felt guilty for bringing it up, he knew in the long run it was something that needed to be done. "I'll listen. I'm not going to judge you, I just want to help."

She sighed, turning her head to face him, her dark brown eyes welling up. It had been so easy for the tears to form as she finally accepted what she'd done, ready to admit it to someone who knew the truth. "I don't know where to start," she mumbled, blinking to clear her vision, the tears sliding down her cheek.

"Try the beginning," he suggested quietly, raising his other hand to wipe at her face gently, his fingers smearing the tears against her cheek. "Come on. Let's start with him. Who is he? Chris?"

"Chris Keller. He's this musician that Peyton met and…"

-

It was an hour after closing as the two sat on one of the café's couches. They'd relocated somewhere in the middle of the story, Haley allowing everything to pour out that she had kept to herself. Every fear, every worry, every feeling that had developed when faced with someone new in her life. Jake had listened, taken it all in, and tried to offer as much wisdom as he could. He knew that wasn't what she needed though; she just needed him to listen.

"I'm still e-mailing him," she mumbled quietly, shooting a guilty glance over to Jake, her lips forming a frown as she realized how wrong that sounded.

"But you love Nathan?"

Her eyes grew wide at that question. It was not like anyone to question her feelings towards her husband, not after she'd said those two words. "I do." She repeated those words once more; it was the one thing she **was** sure of. "I do. Chris was just…the first thing I'd ever had to myself. He supported my music, and he encouraged me, and…I don't know, I guess he just had something about him."

"He had your dreams," Jake suggested slowly. "Your music dreams. He had the answers to all of those questions, all of those fears, all of those doubts you let clutter your mind about that thing you're so passionate about. Because of that, it seemed so easy to run, if it meant getting what you wanted."

She nodded. He had taken the words right out of her mouth. "How'd you know?"

He shrugged his shoulders, but before he could give a long and thought out answer, a quiet cry was heard from the crib in the back. "Lucky guess," she stated simply as he stood up to check on his daughter. She was the thing that held his dreams, caused his questions, fears, and doubts; it had been so easy to run if he thought it was protecting her, but in the end, he'd come back. She had, too, and he made sure to verbalize that to her as she followed him towards the crib. She was ready to assist him, especially considering how much he had assisted her. "You didn't leave," he pointed out, picking up Jenny, comforting her quiet whimpers, "but I guess that doesn't completely make up for what you almost did. You have to be honest with Nathan. He deserves that."

"I know, but-"

"No," he interrupted. "You have to be honest with him and you have to just let Chris go. You're a really talented musician, Haley, and you don't need him to make things happen for yourself." Haley stared at him, eyebrows quirking at the statement. He hadn't been there to hear her on stage, he hadn't been at the dance to hear the song with Chris, so what basis did he have to say that? "Peyton let me listen to some of your stuff. When she was filling me in on everything she brought it up. And you're really talented. You can do this on your own." Her mouth opened to protest once more, but he wouldn't allow it. "You **can**. It might be hard, but you can do it. Everyone has something they have to do on their own. Some of us just figure out what it is a little sooner than the rest of the world."

Haley's eyes traveled over the two people standing close to her, Jake's attention fully resting on his daughter. The sight combined with his words brought a smile to her face. What he said was true, and knowing that his words hadn't been formed because of jealousy or because he felt threatened, much like she assumed Nathan's had, meant something. "Do you think Nathan will forgive me?" she asked softly.

"He loves you," he answered. "With love comes forgiveness. Sometimes people do things that you don't like, you don't approve of, but when you love them…it doesn't matter." One arm held Jenny close to him, his other hand rubbing her stomach lightly as she giggled. It was an odd sound given the situation and conversation taking place, but it was welcomed by both parties. There was nothing like the sound of a child's laughter to bring up the mood of a room. "Hey, Haley?"

"Yeah?"

He glanced over towards the piano in the corner of the café, a small smile forming on his face as he turned back to his friend. "Will you play Jenny and me a song?"

"I'd love to."

Please R&R.


End file.
